"The Test of the Talents"
Matthew 25:14-30
Matthew 25:14 For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. 15 And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey. 16 Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents. 17 And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two. 18 But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money. 19 After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them. 20 And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more. 21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. 22 He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them. 23 His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. 24 Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: 25 And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. 26 His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: 27 Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. 28 Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. 29 For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. 30 And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Introduction: If you are like me you've probably read this parable that Jesus taught about the talents many times over the years. I've heard it used several different ways in sermons and Bible lessons, some of them good, others very decidedly out of context and some just plain old twisting of the truth. The question is, what is the proper context of this parable and what was Jesus trying to teach that we can learn from today? The sad thing is that it's fairly easy to establish the context of Jesus teaching based on what He has to say in chapter 24 and the beginning of chapter 25. The focus of chapter 24 is the second coming, pure and simple. In it He speaks of the signs of the end, His coming as the "son of man," the fact that no one knows the day or the hour, and then in chapter 25 He speaks of the "kingdom of heaven" and the need to be ready when the Lord comes back. It is also evident that His audience is Jewish and that has to be taken into account as we interpret this passage. That is the context for the parable of the talents. Now, let's examine our text based on what we know and go from there. First, we see,
I. The Endowment by the Sovereign
Let's take a minute to see what the "talents" represent because that is important to our understanding. A talent was a "weight of measure" that was used primarily to measure coins usually made out of gold or silver. Let me read a couple of examples from the Bile:
Exodus 38:24 All the gold that was occupied for the work in all the work of the holy place, even the gold of the offering, was twenty and nine talents, and seven hundred and thirty shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary. 25 And the silver of them that were numbered of the congregation was an hundred talents, and a thousand seven hundred and threescore and fifteen shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary:
Most Bible scholars believe that the "talents" represent everything that God has given to us, our time, our talents, and our treasure and that Jesus is saying that what is important in life is what we do with what we have been given.
a. The discretion of the Giver
Notice that the "man who is travelling into a far country," is the Lord Himself. The distribution of the "talents" is at His discretion because they are "his goods," he is the owner, He has title to everything and so it is His prerogative that counts. He is the creator of all things and is in control of all things.
Rights vs. Responsibilities, Owners vs. Stewards
While scouting locations for a popular TV series, an advance team came upon the perfect site for an action scene--an impressive house with a beautiful, large, lush, green lawn. The script called for the cars to be spinning out of control and crashing on the lawn, tearing out shrubs and mowing down flower beds. The residents of the south Florida home were so infatuated by the possibility of having their house prominently featured on a prime-time TV show that they eagerly gave their consent. Days later, the film crew arrived and began shooting the scene. Cars driven by Hollywood stunt drivers were soon racing wildly across the front lawn, violently ripping up the beautiful grass, shrubs and flowers. That was when a neighbor called the owner of the house--in New York! You see, the TV scouts had asked the residents of the house for permission to film, not realizing that they were only tenants who had absolutely no authority to allow the property to be harmed, much less destroyed. Understandably, the owner in New York was not a happy man, the TV director was embarrassed, and the residents were soon looking for a new place to live. Renters are not owners; they are stewards. The biggest difference between renters and owners can be defined with two words: rights and responsibilities. Owners have rights. Stewards have responsibilities.
From a sermon by Freddy Fritz, Wholehearted Stewardship, 11/7/2009
b. The diversity of the gifts
Next, we see that not every one of his servants receive the same amount of gifts. The first received 5, the second 2 and the third servant received 1. They are different in terms of measure but they all received some, not one was left out. That would be true of all of us. God gives us all so many wonderful gifts, some more than others but all receive some! God is good and gracious and gives us so many wonderful things in life. Even life itself is a gift from God.
c. The differences in gain
Third, there is the difference in the "return on the investment." The first two servants "doubled" what they had been given and the third servant "canned what he had and sat on the can!" Apparently there was an expectation on the part of the master that the servants were to use the opportunities that they had to increase the value of the assets that they had been given.
II. The Examination of the Service
a. The return of the Sovereign
Remember the context of our parable? It was the return of the Lord at His second coming. Here the master of the servants returns and in verse 19 we read:
19 After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.
Notice that the Lord of the servants returned after "a long time," Many think that the delay of the Lord's return means that He is not coming at all. Nothing could be further from the truth. There were those in Peter's day said pretty much the same thing.
2 Peter 3:3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, 4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. 5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: 6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: 7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. 8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
b. The reckoning of the servants
The first two servants "delivered" their talents plus the increase to their Lord.
1 John 2:28 And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. 29 If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.
c. The reward for the steadfastness
"God has not called us to success but to faithfulness." Oswald Chambers
I've been a minister a long time and over the years there has been one thing that I have heard from believers over and over again. Countless individuals have told me that what they wanted to hear when they came to the end of the way were these words:
21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
III. The Exclusion of the Slacker
"Most people want just enough of God to make them look respectable."
a. The confession of the slacker
24 Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: 25 And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.
Two things stand out in this confession. First, he declares that he believed his sovereign to be a "hard man." This word means harsh or austere. The question is, was what he believed true or was it a false narrative. Millions today believe falsehoods about God. They attribute things to God that have no basis in fact. Like this man they believe things about God that are simply not true. When you review the Lord's response to the first two servants a very different picture emerges. His Lord was generous, and gracious. Second, notice that he was not motivated by faith but by fear. Again, it was a baseless, groundless fear. His perception of who God is and what He was like were wrong, tragically wrong for him.
b. The confirmation by the Sovereign
26 His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: 27 Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. 28 Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.
LITTLE THINGS
This leads us to a simple but important principle: Our faithfulness in the little things will determine how faithful we will be with bigger things.
There is a story about a huge bank where one of the employees was up for a significant promotion. He lost that promotion one day in the bank's cafeteria when the President of the bank saw the man hide two pats of butter under his bread so he wouldn't have to pay for them. The President of the bank concluded that any man who was dishonest about butter could not be trusted with bigger things.
Little things are important. It was Benjamin Franklin who wrote:
For want of a nail the shoe was lost;
for want of a shoe the horse was lost;
and for want of a horse the rider was lost;
being overtaken and slain by the enemy,
all for the want of care about a horseshoe nail.
(From a sermon by Bruce Goettsche, "Little Things" 1/12/2009)
c. The condemnation of the slacker
29 For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. 30 And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
The key word here is "unprofitable." The point here is not that this individual did something against his master but that he didn't do anything at all for his master. In his case doing nothing is doing harm!
Conclusion: "Carpe Diem." Seize the day. Make the most of every opportunity. Seize -- the day. Notice the phrase is not "with utmost care and caution, after you have worked out the cost/benefit analysis and determined that there is no logical reason why all systems should not be go, and have assured yourself that the risk is zero, or as close to zero as is theoretically possible, slowly and timidly reach for the day, keeping eyes peeled at every moment for other factors which would render that decision less logical than previously expected and mitigate a sudden and calculated pull-back from the day-seizing operation."
